


Death Boy

by percyspandapillowpet



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, cheesy cheesy fluff, one of those 3+1 things, originally written on 2/9/2016, post-BoO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 01:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9099814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyspandapillowpet/pseuds/percyspandapillowpet
Summary: The three times Nico said he hated the nickname Will gave him and the one time he didn't.





	

**Author's Note:**

> not super proud of this one but didn't feel like changing something that I wrote 11 months ago lmao enjoy :)

Nico walked back across the green to where Will Solace was waiting.

"All right, Death Boy," Will said, his arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. "Now that whatever that was is settled, are you ready to get started with your three days?"

"Don't call me that,” Nico growled. He was already regretting his decision.

"Fine," Will replied. "What should I call you, then?"

"My name."

He shook his head and tapped a finger on his chin. "Nope, you've _got_ to let me give you some kind of nickname."

"Why?" Nico asked bitterly.

"It's an important step in the process of becoming friends," Will explained, as if he were describing a complex medical procedure.

 _Friends._ The word sounded terribly strange and unfamiliar, yet oddly comforting, to Nico, who wasn't used to hearing it in reference to himself. Did Will really think that's what they were, or perhaps what they could be? He had still been holding onto a thread of doubt and worry that Will hadn’t actually meant any of what he said during the battle, that he was just teasing Nico and trying to get on his nerves, only to shun him and push him away after a few weeks like everyone else always had.

Wait, _worry?_ Why in the world would he feel _worried_ about Will Solace not liking him? The idea made those damn skeletal butterflies resurrect in his stomach.

Shoving away his annoying thoughts, he looked back up at Will—yes, _up,_ it was terrible—whose stupid blue eyes were staring at him in a way that looked far too sympathetic and caring.

"I don't want a nickname," was what eventually came out of his mouth.

Will then looked a little crestfallen for a moment, which made Nico sort of regret his words, and then he felt angry for feeling like that. Godsdamnit, what was this Apollo kid doing to his brain?

"Okay," Will soon responded, immediately returning to his cheery, bright-eyed, and obnoxious self, without a hint of anything different. He then placed a firm hand on Nico's shoulder. "Let's get to the infirmary, then."

Nico flinched under the touch and backed away from the other boy.

"Sorry!" he stuttered. "I can't…I don't really like people touching me."

Will frowned slightly, his eyes filling with even deeper concern than before. "That's all right," he replied. "I understand. It might sometimes be necessary for medical reasons, but I'll try to keep contact to a minimum."

"Thank you," Nico said quietly. He felt himself blushing—which was stupid and annoying, just like everything else—and avoided Will's gaze.

"You should get some rest," Will spoke after an awkward moment of silence. "You've been fighting and shadow-traveling a lot—way too much—and you honestly need it, even if you don't think so. Trust me; you look like a pile of pegasus crap."

"Jeez, all right," Nico muttered.

"Follow me," Will announced, marching off towards the infirmary, and he trailed reluctantly behind.

*****

At least his hospital bed had some decent privacy.

Will assigned him the one in the far corner of the room, at least five beds away from every other patient, and everyone had a white curtain that drew around their own. Nico decided he would keep his closed unless it was absolutely necessary.

There were at least ten other campers resting in the cots—some with serious injuries, and others just in need of monitoring—and half that many Apollo campers in green scrubs. Will apparently didn’t like to follow his own protocol, as he was wearing shorts and flip-flops.

“The first thing I’m prescribing you is sleep,” he announced, and before Nico even got a chance to protest, he added, “You need it. Trust me.”

“Why should I trust you?” Nico asked.

“I’m the professional.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just a teenager.”

“Sorry, not everyone’s eighty.”

“Shut up. That doesn’t count.”

Will gestured for him to climb into the bed. “Doctor’s orders.”

“You can’t just say that to everything. You’re not even a doctor.”

“I don’t care. You’re under my care, so you’re going to listen to me. This is for your own sake.”

Nico huffed but reluctantly obliged, pushing back the sheets and sitting down. “I’m telling you, I’m going to wake up in a few hours and be perfectly fine.”

Will grinned like he knew something Nico didn’t. “We’ll see, Death Boy.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Go to sleep.”

*****

It turned out that Nico’s prediction was far from accurate, as he found himself waking to an empty infirmary.

Well, empty except for Will Solace, who sat on a stool nearby, smiling to himself. Nico wanted to slap that stupid grin off his face, for no real reason other than the fact that it was too pretty.

“Will? Where is everyone?” he asked instead.

Will looked up from the clipboard he was examining. “They’re all recovered and gone, Nico,” he replied. “It’s been five days.”

“Five days! I’ve been asleep for five days?”

Will nodded, still looking amused. “You must’ve been pretty tired, huh?”

“Oh, shut up,” Nico grumbled. “I’m starving. Can we go to the dining pavilion?”

“Lunch is over, unfortunately,” Will answered. “But I’ve got some snacks here.” He opened the backpack beside him to reveal a variety of chips, cookies, and crackers. Nico nearly started drooling.

“I could eat all of that right now.” Without thinking, he stood up from his bed, and immediately collapsed forward—only to be caught and hoisted back onto his feet by a pair of strong arms.

“Careful, Death Boy,” Will chided. “It’s not a good idea to stand up so suddenly after being asleep for a hundred and twenty hours.”

“I’m fine,” Nico muttered, pushing Will away and attempting to stand on his own. “And _stop_ calling me that.” Will grabbed hold of his arm again, however, and Nico didn’t bother shaking it off. Instead, he reached for the food and opened a bag of Doritos.

“So,” Will asked casually as they sat down on the cot, side-by-side, “how was your sleep?”

Nico shrugged. “The best I’ve had in a while, I guess.”

“That’s good,” Will hummed contently. “I was a little scared you weren’t going to wake up. You sleep like the dead.”

Nico threw a chip at him.

Will laughed. “Sorry. You’re going to have to get used to my constant puns.”

The thought of _getting used to_ anything to do with Will made Nico’s heart beat about ten times faster than normal—though maybe that was just a side effect of his messed-up sleep schedule. Possibly.

Getting used to anything meant spending a lot of time with it until it became normal. The thought of hanging out with Will Solace on a regular basis somehow didn’t seem half-bad, which sort of confused Nico, because Will was terribly annoying and definitely not the kind of person he’d usually befriend.

Perhaps it was simply because Will seemed to actually _care_ about him, though, or that he didn’t really _befriend_ people at all in the first place.

Will tapping him on the shoulder shook him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, Death Boy, you asleep again?”

Nico smiled, for once sort of enjoying the dumb nickname. “No. But I might be dreaming.”


End file.
